Well this is it. My last "top ten" list. I have no list prepared for the 1980s. Incidentally, if anyone is interested all of these lists I have made on here were originally on my amazon page, including other lists I have not posted on here. I merely copy what was on those list and put them on here. I don't rewatch all the titles before making these "top ten" lists. The 90s were a somewhat interesting decade. It had its highs and lows. We saw some new trends emerge and fade away and new filmmakers have a major impact on the culture.
Tarantino blew audiences away with "Pulp Fiction" starting a slew of imitators. Suddenly every gangster movie had to have characters make cultural references while killing someone and throw in some comedy for good measure.
Neil Jordan also had a big hit with his 1992 film "The Crying Game" supplying us with one of the biggest twist of the year.
As sadly happens every year we lose some great artists. In the 90s we lost such great filmmakers as Akira Kurosawa and Federico Fellini. In 1990 alone we said goodbye to Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Michael Powell, Paulette Goddard, Eve Arden, Sammy Davis Jr. and funnyman Terry-Thomas.
But it wasn't all bad news for 1990. Some good movies were made during the year. Francis Ford Coppola completed his "Godfather" trilogy waiting 16 years to give us the final chapter. A new rating system was introduced giving us the NC-17 rating. The first film to receive it, Philip Kaufman's movie about Henry Miller, "Henry and June".
The top grossing film of the year was a story about a family who forgets to bring their son on a family vacation in "Home Alone". Other top grossing hits included "Ghost", the love story of the year, "Pretty Woman", making Julia Roberts a star, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Dick Tracy" and "Kindergarten Cop". The eventual Oscar winner, "Dances With Wolves" became the highest grossing Western of all-time taking in more than $184 million, while never reaching number one at the box-office.
At the Academy Awards ceremony the five "Best Picture" nominees were; "Dances with Wolves", "GoodFellas", "Ghost", "Awakening" and "The Godfather Part 3". To this day, many disagree with the Academy's decision, claiming Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" was the real "best picture". Regardless, here is my list for the ten best films of the year!
1. DANCES WITH WOLVES (Dir. Kevin Costner; U.S.) - Yes, many will disagree with me. Luckily for me, I don't allow public opinion to influence my feelings on movies. This was the film which touched me most. A true epic film. It is clear why a film such as this won an Oscar. It attempts to tell an important, historical story. One of the first American films not to treat Native Americans as villains.
Costner's directorial debut is seen as one of the most realistic portraits of Native Americans with a supposed sequel coming out in 2011. Costner has already stated he will not reprise the role. The film scored a total of 12 Oscar nominations taking home 7, including "Best Picture", "Director" and "Adapted Screenplay" for Michael Blake, who adapted his own novel.
The film became the second Western to win the "Best Picture" Oscar after the 1931 film "Cimarron", my choice for the worst Oscar winner of all time, with this year's "Slumdog Millionaire" following close behind.
2. MONSIEUR HIRE (Dir. Patrice Leconte; France) - This is actually quite a grim film. In fact, you'll find nearly every film on this list is pretty sad and depressing. But "Monsieur Hire" is a beautifully told erotic mystery film starring Sandrine Bonnaire. Leconte and Bonnaire teamed up again for the sweeter "Intimate Strangers". A good film but not quite up to this film's level. It was nominated for the palme d'or at the Cannes Film Festival.
3. THE GRIFTERS (Dir. Stephen Frears; U.S.) - "The Grifters" is possibly one of the best films in the con-man genre, excluding the work of Mr. David Mamet. Anjelica Huston, Annette Bening (both of whom were nominated for Oscars) and John Cusack score in this film which was originally supposed to be directed by Martin Scorsese (who does a narration at the beginning and was one of the film's producers) but he declined personally requesting Frears take on the film. The movie was nominated for four Oscars.
4. TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR YOU (Dir. Bertrand Blier; France) - Perhaps the most accessible film by Mr. Blier, this film stars Gerard Depardieu caught in a love triangle between his beautiful wife, Carole Bouquet and his new secretary Josiane Balasko, though she is not seen as attractive as his wife.
Here is a movie about how love knows no bounds. And to add another cliche, how we should never judge a book by its cover. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes while also being nominated for the palme d' or.
5. GOODFELLAS (Dir. Martin Scorsese; U.S.) - Naturally I couldn't leave this film off the list. Considered by some as Scorsese's greatest work and even called by Roger Ebert, the greatest mafia movie of all time (read his original review) Scorsese and screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi have made the ultimate "insider" movie. I don't know if it really should have won the best picture Oscar but there is no way to doubt the sheer excitement of the film. All three of the lead roles, De Niro, Liotta and Pesci are fascinating to watch.
Nominated for 6 Oscars only Pesci walked away with an Oscar for "Best Supporting Actor".
6. AVALON (Dir. Barry Levinson; U.S.) - Many interpret this film to be about the struggles families faced when coming to America but Levinson denies this saying his real intention was to tell the story of storytelling itself. How television changed everything. Either way you want to look at it "Avalon" is one of Levinson's best films.
The cast includes Elizabeth Perkins, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Kevin Pollak, Aidan Quinn and a very young Elijah Wood. The film was nominated for four Oscars.
7. MILLER'S CROSSING (Dir. Coen Brothers; U.S.) - With titles such as "GoodFellas" and "The Grifters" on this list here is the comedic verison of those movies. Maybe my favorite of all the Coen Brothers movies. Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro and Albert Finney star in the off-beat, entertaining gangster film.
8. LANDSCAPE IN THE MIST (Dir. Theo Angelopoulos; Greece) - Often thought of as Mr. Angelopoulos' masterpiece "Landscape in the Mist" is a poetic, haunting film dealing with two children seeking their father, whom they have never seen. The children go on an emotional journey coming across several father figures. No filmmaker working today can master imagery the way Mr. Angelopoulos does.
9. CLOSE-UP (Dir. Abbas Kiarostami; Iran) - Here is a strange film which tears down the walls between fantasy and reality. Like Mr. Angelopoulos, Kiarostami is also a great visionary. His films probably have made the biggest impact in American than those of any other Iranian filmmaker, though sadly his work is not for everyone. He has a way of dividing an audience. But film after film Mr. Kiarostami manages to impress me. This might be my favorite of his films with "The Wind Will Carry Us" coming up a close second.
10. LIFE AND NOTHING BUT (Dir. Bertrand Tavernier; France) - Starring Sabine Azema and Philippe Noiret the film takes place during WW1 and tells us the story of the history of the "unknown soldier" though the facts are played around with, the film is mostly concerned with being a romance, it does feel like an epic. It swept the Cesar awards (France's Oscars) winning a total of 11 nominations. Not very well remembered today it is well worth seeing.
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